A Darkness More Than Turk
by giba
Summary: When an important figure is murdered at night in Shin-Ra HQ, Tseng must find the killer before the building opens for business the next day. Based on FF7 "Before Crisis"
1. Intro

This fan-fiction is based on Final Fantasy 7 Before Crisis (FF7BC) released as a cell phone game in Japan for DoCoMo's new FOMA 900 series model. FF7BC is part of the FF7 "Reunion" where Square revisits this great 1997 hit which includes the FF7 movie due to come out soon. FF7BC takes place 6 years before the events of FF7 and describe events following the founding of the Turks by Shin-Ra Corporation. The player can choose between a female and male Turk player, the tagline goes something like "What kind of Turk will you be?" Aside from the fact that this release is a cash-in for Square on the movie, let me say that of all the FF series, FF8 was my favorite, but FF7 had the most interesting ideas. Square has never approached the idea of corruption, gambling and even prostitution the way it has in FF7's Midgar. The corruption and poverty that stems from power over a profitable resource like mako energy is very reminiscent of the organized crime explosion of the early 80s, when cocaine and heroine entered the drug market, and is even echoed today in Bush's "War on Oil" (Go ahead and flame me for that one). Shin-Ra characters are classic; the punk Reno with his beat-stick and Rude, the big bald motherfucker. You can just picture these guys mopping up Shin-Ra screw-ups with a shovel outside the city at night and coming home in time for pancakes. A few notes about FF7BC, I mentioned before it was in the past, Seph seems to be around but not much is known about him yet. Tseng, Rude, Reno and even Zack (who didn't get a lot play in FF7) are present. There are also some new characters, Beld, the original founder of the Turks and two protagonists. Descriptions of these characters will come eventually. 


	2. Scene 1

Being invited to dine with President Shin-Ra always made Tseng nervous. As he walked along the empty corridors of the Shin-Ra Corporation headquarters he hoped he could be in the street pursuing rival gang members. He didn't mind working for an organization that sought out and destroyed its competition, he just didn't want to be involved with its internal politics, and dining with the president brought him a little too close to that. Tseng always felt that if he met his end one day, it would be in some unexpected way and not by the blade or gun in the streets of Midgar. Finally he reached the top floor of the building, the president's quarters, straightened himself and rang. The door opened almost instantly and Tseng saw a familiar face. "Come in, come in" said Beld, "We were just about to sit down"  
  
Beld was a man every Turk knew and every Turk feared. This hard-faced man with hooked dark eyes was the original founder and supreme leader of the Turks organization and took his orders directly from Shin-Ra executives. He was the kind of person who did not tolerate failure for any reason and rarely showed any emotions. Tseng thought he always had the same worried pensive look on his face, whether he was inviting you in for dinner or torturing you for information. That combined with the fact that the president himself was also standing in the room made Tseng's throat tighten. A fish would be more comfortable out of water.  
  
"Sorry to keep you waiting sire, I was finishing lock-up" replied Tseng dutifully.  
"Sire..." he said bowing to the president who nodded sternly.  
"Well let's eat!" The president said, "I'm starved".  
They passed to the next room where Zack stood next to a woman in her early thirties around the dinner table. Zack seemed to have been saying something to her when they came in but fell silent.  
"Tseng, my man" He walked around the table and extended his hand. "Didn't know you'd be joining us". Tseng took his hand "I didn't know myself until Beld called me 5 minutes ago."  
"I thought it would be nice to have you for dinner," said the president, "seeing that you'll be in charge of protecting the building until morning. You have a long night ahead of you and should have something in your stomach."  
"It's an honour, sir", replied Tseng.  
  
They sat down; the president at the end of the table while Beld took his place on his left the woman to his right. Zack sat next to Beld and Tseng across from Zack, on the woman's right.  
"I don't believe we've been introduced," said the blonde as they sat down. "I'm Shelly..."  
"Yes! Yes! Where are my manners!" the president interrupted. "I met Shelly on a, hmm, business trip 2 month ago in Costa del Sol."  
Tseng kissed her hand. "Madam..." He said.  
Another girlfriend? He thought to himself What ever happened to Rufus' natural mother?  
Zack looked at him and shrugged his shoulders as if reading his mind.  
  
They dined on chicken, bread, sweet potatoes with a side-serving of shrimps and biscuits accompanied with a white wine from the southern regions, the ones not yet affected by Shin-Ra polluting mako plants. The conversation revolved around company politics, the latest budget cut in aeronautics and a new network channel acquisition. This kind of talk bored Tseng half out of his mind, though he tried not to show it. The only thing he knew were the inner-workings of the Turks, how to keep his followers in check and to obey to his superiors. Shelly seemed similarly unimpressed with the conversion and seemed to be studying him throughout dinner. He had even caught her twice looking at him. When they finished eating, Zack excused himself saying he was off to an early start while Tseng volunteered to walk him to the front door, which was already locked.  
  
They took the elevator to the lobby and parted as Tseng locked the door behind Zack. When he passed the front desk he noticed one of the monitors connected to the internal security cameras was offline. The guard sitting at the desk was stretched back reading a guitar magazine.  
  
"Hey! What the fuck!" Tseng yelled out. The guard jumped.  
"This is what we pay you for! Maggot!" He pointed at the monitors and grabbed the mag abruptly. "I hope you play good guitar, when Shin-Ra puts you in the street, I'll come see your new gig!"  
"That monitor was on not 2 minutes ago!" The guard said in defence. He tapped the TV monitor, checked the connections and noted the number.  
"37" he said to Tseng. "Mayor's office"  
"Shit!" yelled Tseng, "Alert security, but don't sound the alarm, Beld is in the building and he'll have our asses." Tseng ran to the glass elevator and took out his Shin-Ra issue pistol. When he reached the mayor's office, he found the mayor of Shin-Ra sprawled face down on the floor, shot, lying in a pool of his own blood. 


End file.
